Why We Need More Women in Future Tech

Hello there! Thank you for checking out my SWIFT-U blog. Allow me to introduce myself 😉

My name is Denise Haskins, and I am a certified systems engineering professional and STEM expert. I have more than 25+ years experience in various government agencies, private industry, and academia. From pursuing a Doctor of Science in Information Management to obtaining my Agile certification, I have led a dynamic career of innovation in STEM. I have also received numerous professional awards, including the Women of Color Technology All-Star Award, Raytheon Star Award, and the Booz Allen Hamilton Performance & Team Award.

You may be wondering, then…. Why start this blog?

To start with, I have a deep desire to share my knowledge and experience with the next cadre of women STEM seekers, which hopefully includes you.

This platform allows me to dive into my two major passions:

1. Encouraging women and girls to pursue the Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) field and take full advantage of technological advances; and,
2. Coaching those who may feel overwhelmed (i.e. the ‘non-tech savvy’) on how to identify and apply best tools and technology to enhance their professional productivity.

Encouraging Women of Color and Girls to Pursue STEM

First, I want all women and girls in STEM to thrive and persevere. It is my goal for women and girls in STEM to overcome any obstacles they may encounter in this predominantly male-dominated environment. These particular challenges often surface in three ways (according to the ivanti Women in Technology survey series that polled 500 women):

• Not being taken seriously in the industry due to gender perceptions (63%)
  • Having no female role models in the industry (42%)

• The gender pay gap (40%)

The metaphor of the “leaky pipeline” helps explain why more women do not pursue careers in STEM, and also why they leave the field early for other careers. Though a large amount of girls and women enter the pipeline, ‘leaks’ along the way (i.e. the challenges cited above) cause them to exit. My goal is to have a positive effect on the number of women choosing to stay in the ‘pipeline’ of the STEM field.

Photo of water by Terry Vlisidis on Unsplash

With this blog, my primary goal is to share information and proven practices from my work experiences to help prevent the trickle of women and girls from STEM careers. I hope to inspire you to stay and succeed to the very end of your own personal ‘pipeline.’

Today, with the breadth of women in technology careers, there is a vast array of career choices for women to make. Through my coaching program, I seek to instruct and engage, using a tailored suite of tools that will help future tech-savvy engineers navigate professional obstacles more easily.

Along my own ‘pipeline,’ or path, I’ve learned key tidbits I would like to share with you, so that you can successfully become our next technologist.

You don’t have to be famous to be a superstar in STEM! Just establish yourself as a reliable high-performer and the accolades and incentives will follow.

Tech Tool Time

My second goal with this blog is to use my passion and deep understanding of technology to help others be productive and perform at their very best level, every single day.

I plan to release a new nugget of information bi-weekly, so tune in for your pipeline driblet!

So, follow me — your tech career coach –as I share tech tidbits, lessons learned, missteps, and successes formed from my life and professional story.